I wish they didn't have to take out all the crowns and make the surface the same as every other F1 track. I wish they would race on the bumps as Indycars do. If you have this months Motorsport check out Rubens comparison between F1 tracks and Indycar street courses.

As long as the track isn't actually falling apart, I say leave them alone. It makes the track more interesting. F1 is supposed to be the best drivers and engineers in the world, you can't handle some bumps?

As long as the track isn't actually falling apart, I say leave them alone. It makes the track more interesting. F1 is supposed to be the best drivers and engineers in the world, you can't handle some bumps?

Agreed. But the F1 circus wouldn't, I'm sure.

I think it is all irrelevant anyway as I seriously doubt that this event will ever happen. The silence that has surrounded it all along may have finally lifted a little, only to show a load of obfuscation and PR drivel about permits and floating pontoons. Let alone the comment that Hurricane (I thought it was a "Superstorm"?) Sandy affected progress on the 2013 race, when that date had already long been abandoned. The bottom line must be that they still haven't got the money.

I feel pretty sure Bernie was never too fussed about this GP actually happening, i get the impression the primary reason was to give the mob down in Austin the hurry up, i think this was announced at a time when Austin was in trouble and dithering a little. Bernie was just saying "well we've got this other race in the US now so if you don't sort it out you lose out".

I feel pretty sure Bernie was never too fussed about this GP actually happening, i get the impression the primary reason was to give the mob down in Austin the hurry up, i think this was announced at a time when Austin was in trouble and dithering a little. Bernie was just saying "well we've got this other race in the US now so if you don't sort it out you lose out".

It's like when he flirted with Donnington in order to hustle Silverstone into signing a multi-year deal. Bernie is a master chess player and he's always got a one-up on his opponents who rarely have any leverage.

Sandy created a political minefield for anyone trying to garner funds for an extravagant business adventure such as F1.

Actually...

My company just won a Federal Government contract regarding economic development in disaster areas. I'm not big on the details but it's a Task Order type thing and I believe the idea is to help the economy recover in areas hit by disasters. The areas affected by Sandy are apparently first up.

I think that shows that the government is interested in stimulating the economies of areas hit by destruction from natural disasters.

Well, F1 races are widely thought to greatly stimulate the local economy, so....

-F1 is really expensive. It's like buying a new football stadium without the asset.
-Racing, for whatever reason, doesn't get the same treatment on economic development that other sports do. And it's a foreign event so the money doesn't stay in the American economy.
-For the above reasons and mainy more, it would be politically unpopular.

As long as the track isn't actually falling apart, I say leave them alone. It makes the track more interesting. F1 is supposed to be the best drivers and engineers in the world, you can't handle some bumps?

Don't you remember the bitching by some of the drivers about the yard of bricks at IMS? They might be able handle bumps, but not without bitching about it.

I think it is all irrelevant anyway as I seriously doubt that this event will ever happen. The silence that has surrounded it all along may have finally lifted a little, only to show a load of obfuscation and PR drivel about permits and floating pontoons. Let alone the comment that Hurricane (I thought it was a "Superstorm"?) Sandy affected progress on the 2013 race, when that date had already long been abandoned. The bottom line must be that they still haven't got the money.

The Hurricane was no joke, i live in the area and part time i do damage assessment reports and handle the permit applications etc. due to this storm and things are moving slow. It was shocking to see an "average citizen" beg for food and water on the street.... That's not a BS excuse for the race being delayed. Keep the faith !!

The Hurricane was no joke, i live in the area and part time i do damage assessment reports and handle the permit applications etc. due to this storm and things are moving slow. It was shocking to see an "average citizen" beg for food and water on the street.... That's not a BS excuse for the race being delayed. Keep the faith !!

I do not mean to imply Sandy was not a serious disaster for the area. Merely that the 2013 race had already been postponed in mid-October, BEFORE Sandy came ashore. The suggestion that it was postponed BECAUSE of Sandy is BS and disrespectful of those who were genuinely badly affected by the storm.

No, no, this whole race is being held in secret. That's why they have no website, almost never tell anyone anything, have no marketing etc. This is the Area 51 of motor sport. Even the North Korean GP will have more publicity - once Bernie gets the deal signed.

I think it is all irrelevant anyway as I seriously doubt that this event will ever happen. The silence that has surrounded it all along may have finally lifted a little, only to show a load of obfuscation and PR drivel about permits and floating pontoons. Let alone the comment that Hurricane (I thought it was a "Superstorm"?) Sandy affected progress on the 2013 race, when that date had already long been abandoned. The bottom line must be that they still haven't got the money.

I was one of the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

It IS and WAS the worse storm New Jersey has seen in since the 1930s or even before that.

But, it was problematic even before that, and it got much worse after that.

"Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that they have given organisers some funding."There's no reason why it shouldn't happen. We've put money behind it to pay a lot of the things off, a lot of their debts," he told Reuters. "So I'm hoping now we are going to get it together."We're going to try and make it happen next year.""

"Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that they have given organisers some funding."There's no reason why it shouldn't happen. We've put money behind it to pay a lot of the things off, a lot of their debts," he told Reuters. "So I'm hoping now we are going to get it together."We're going to try and make it happen next year.""

So he does not want to give funding to bring back some classic circuits in the calendar but he helps to build another street circuit.

Seems a bit unfair to the Austin crew, who have put up hundreds of millions, fought with both the City and State about a relatively moderate level of subsidy, and generally had to do everything on their own. Obviously Bernie is not as "motivated" to see F1 racing down here in Texas.

I understand you completely. I am much more concerned with a return of the Mexican GP for the future of COTA. There were way more from south of the border than from the east coast. Indy was a fairly good mix of people from all over. I expect NJ would be the same. Mexico however would draw a large part of the crowd away (unless they chose to do both)

New Jersey and Montreal are only 6 hours by car away from each other and seems to me that they are competing for the same customer base. I hope they are scheduled for opposite times of the season at least.

New Jersey and Montreal are only 6 hours by car away from each other and seems to me that they are competing for the same customer base. I hope they are scheduled for opposite times of the season at least.

Were supposed to be back to back weekends after Monaco this year on the provisional schedule. I expect that to remain next season. Barcelona and Valencia got really close in the last couple of years on the schedule and those citites are much closer than NYC and Montreal.

They will compete, and it really shouldn't make too much of an impact, if any at all. I notice that in the U.S., race fans don't have an issue traveling to see races, so if anything, they are also competing with the USGP in Austin, and Long Beach if that happens. Also, it is two countries. And at least in Michigan, the ability to cross the boarder isn't as easy as it used to be (still easy if you have a passport), so for those without one would have to make the choice to stay home.

Were supposed to be back to back weekends after Monaco this year on the provisional schedule. I expect that to remain next season. Barcelona and Valencia got really close in the last couple of years on the schedule and those citites are much closer than NYC and Montreal.

They will compete, and it really shouldn't make too much of an impact, if any at all. I notice that in the U.S., race fans don't have an issue traveling to see races, so if anything, they are also competing with the USGP in Austin, and Long Beach if that happens. Also, it is two countries. And at least in Michigan, the ability to cross the boarder isn't as easy as it used to be (still easy if you have a passport), so for those without one would have to make the choice to stay home.

+1 for you sir.

NYC is one of the biggest urban agglomerations in North America, there should be enough people to buy tickets there.As far as I know, the Montreal race is subsidized for a couple of years; and there are full grandstands from the (!!!) first friday running to the chequered flag on sunday.In every corner of Quebec, the Montreal GP has a hype comparable to the one and only Montreal Canadiens, and that is, believe me, pretty big.(For international readers, that ice hockey team gets about (!!!) 75% of the sport media weight when the hockey season is on, 21 273 tickets sold out for every 82+ games, no joke)

I understand you completely. I am much more concerned with a return of the Mexican GP for the future of COTA. There were way more from south of the border than from the east coast. Indy was a fairly good mix of people from all over. I expect NJ would be the same. Mexico however would draw a large part of the crowd away (unless they chose to do both)

I'll be surprised if Mexico City doesn't pull at least 200K people on raceday in the first year. COTA should be worried about Mexico.

Seems a bit unfair to the Austin crew, who have put up hundreds of millions, fought with both the City and State about a relatively moderate level of subsidy, and generally had to do everything on their own. Obviously Bernie is not as "motivated" to see F1 racing down here in Texas.

$29M+ annually is a 'moderate" subsidy? The taxpayer is paying the entire FOM sanctioning fee...paying for COTA's content.

I didn't have a chance to get to Austin last year and it was great to see a sell-out crowd

Austin did not sell out. Sorry. The repetition of this is just a pet-peave of mine.

This skeptic sure sounds awfully defensive of COTA for someone who did not even attend the race here. Interesting. He also talks about the paddock in NJ not being complete. From what I've seen in Austin, having spent a lot of time in the paddock during every race but MotoGP, all you need for a paddock is a big open area. That's all the COTA paddock is. It's essentially a parking lot. The COTA support paddock doesn't even have electricity or water.

"Thanks to the patient, invaluable support of Bernie Ecclestone and FOM (Formula One Management) we now have the long-term sanctioning agreement needed to go racing for years to come, starting in June 2014."

Austin did not sell out. Sorry. The repetition of this is just a pet-peave of mine.

I know the isn't the correct thread, but I'm going to ask it anyways. I attended the F1 GP in 2012 and will be returning from the east coast (Pittsburgh) again this year. What is a "sell-out" for Austin?

I'd imagine they could and would sell as many GA tickets as possible. Is there a circuit capacity? Or were some grandstand(s) not full? Looked packed as hell to me. We arrived by 9am on Sunday and the hill at T1 was packed in the GA area. I was photographing at T7 (ga area) when the race began and hardly anyone was there..

I know the isn't the correct thread, but I'm going to ask it anyways. I attended the F1 GP in 2012 and will be returning from the east coast (Pittsburgh) again this year. What is a "sell-out" for Austin?

Yes, the crowd was big. Very big, but not a sellout as some have claimed, even Geoff Moore from COTA earlier this year. COTA said a sellout would be 120K people. A couple of months before that they said a sellout = 140K people. Early on, Hellmund & others said they would be disappointed with less than 200K people on race day. It's interesting that they reduced the "sellout" number over the months leading to the race. There were a bit over 117K at COTA on race day and the 3 permanent grandstands (T1, T15, and the Main GS) never sold out. There are photos of the start of the race (I think I have some at home) with big empty areas in the Main Grandstand and other grandstands, and tickets were on sale at the ticket office all weekend.

I'd imagine they could and would sell as many GA tickets as possible. Is there a circuit capacity? Or were some grandstand(s) not full? Looked packed as hell to me. We arrived by 9am on Sunday and the hill at T1 was packed in the GA area. I was photographing at T7 (ga area) when the race began and hardly anyone was there..

You're right that the GA crowd at T1 was huge. There were also good crowds along the esses, and at Turn 11. There was a good General Admission turnout, but not nearly as many as there could have been, as COTA arbitrarily cut off GA ticket sales at 40K a few weeks before the race. They were trying to push people toward more expensive, unsold grandstand seats.

I don't know what the official capacity of the track might be per the fire department occupancy load calculations, but it was clear even during F1 that tens of thousands more people could be accommodated. They got within about 2500 people of a "sellout" based on the number of tickets they decided to sell, but not based on capacity. All of this despite tactics such as giving away multiple tickets to employees of vendors and writing vendor contracts requiring them to buy back 1% of their contract value in race tickets (essentially paying a portion of vendor contracts in race tickets rather than money, and then calling it "ticket sales" due to the wording).

Should be interesting. COTA is apparently having trouble even with help from taxpayers (which is why they need to embellish & augment attendance figures any way they can). Hindery, on the other hand, has taken the hard-line stance against receiving public funding, even going as far as to call it "bad politics" and "bad ethics".